What Is Shingles?

About 1 of every 3 people in the United States will develop shingles at some point.

Shingles, also known as zoster or herpes zoster, is a viral infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox.

While the disease is not life-threatening, it can cause a painful rash anywhere on your body and usually appears as a single stripe of blisters that wraps around one side of the torso.

Almost 1 out of every 3 people in the United States will develop shingles at some point, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Of an estimated 1 million U.S. cases of shingles each year, about half of them occur in people 60 years of age or older. In fact, half of people who live to age 85 develop shingles.

Most people who receive treatment soon after shingles blisters appear will experience relief from pain and heal from the lesions within 3 to 5 weeks. Additionally, the blisters often leave no scars.

Causes of Shingles

Varicella-zoster is part of a group of viruses called herpes viruses, which includes the viruses that cause cold sores and genital herpes.

However, the virus that causes chickenpox and shingles is not the same virus that causes cold sores or genital herpes, the herpes simplex 1 and 2 viruses.

Anyone who’s had chickenpox can get shingles, including children.

After you’ve been infected with chickenpox, the varicella-zoster virus lies inactive in nerve tissue near your spinal cord and brain.

If the virus reactivates, it can travel along nerve pathways to your skin, and cause shingles.

Most people who get shingles will not develop it again, but some people may have it a second or third time.

Risks Factors for Shingles

The risk of shingles increases as you age, which may be due to lowered immunity to infections as you grow older.

People with a greater risk of getting shingles include:

People with weakened immune systems caused by certain cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, or the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

People who take immunosuppressive medications, such as steroids and other drugs after an organ transplant

Is Shingles Contagious?

Shingles cannot be passed between people, but the varicella-zoster virus can spread to people who aren’t immune to chickenpox — those who have not been vaccinated against chickenpox or have not had the disease.

The varicella-zoster virus usually spreads from person to person through direct contact with the open sores of the shingles rash when blisters are present. Once infected, the person will develop chickenpox, not shingles.

If the rash is covered, the risk of a person with shingles spreading the virus to others is low.

However, chickenpox can be dangerous for some groups of people, including newborns, pregnant women, and anyone who has a weakened immune system.

So until your shingles blisters turn into scabs, you are contagious and should avoid contact with any susceptible people. The following can help keep you from spreading the virus:

Shingles and Pregnancy

While it’s rare for pregnant women to develop shingles, if they do, most experts agree that it’s unlikely to cause harm to the fetus.

However, pregnant women who have never had chickenpox could experience complications, with 10 to 20 percent of those infected developing varicella pneumonia, a condition that can be fatal in up to 40 percent of people who develop it, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

If a pregnant woman gets chickenpox during the first half of her pregnancy, there’s a 0.4 to 2 percent risk for birth defects or miscarriage. If she gets chickenpox during the second half of her pregnancy, the baby may get the infection without having any symptoms, and then get shingles later in life.

Pregnant women who have been exposed to the virus may be given varicella-zoster immune globulin (VZIG) injection to reduce their risk of complications.

Additionally, newborns whose mothers develop varicella rash from 5 days before to 2 days after delivery should receive preventive treatment with VZIG to avoid neonatal varicella, which is associated with mortality as high as 30 percent.

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